Beef Stroganoff - Sort of

When I was at the grocery store the other day looking for beef soup bones, I decided to pick up a package of beef stew meat so that I could add some meat to the stock. After all, soup bones have been scraped clean of nearly all the meat, so I needed to supplement the stock.

However, I knew I would not need all of the stew meat for the stock. What to do with the rest? Aha! I could find a recipe for Beef Stroganoff and make that while the beef stock simmers away. I had a plan, so when I got home I began looking for a recipe. I have had a lot of success with Tyler Florence's recipes, so I decided to go with his recipe for Beef Stroganoff over Buttered Noodles.

My mise en place for the Beef Stroganoff includes (from left rear) wide noodles, black pepper, sherry (to replace the cognac I don't have on hand), the last of my homemade beef stock, kosher salt, stew beef, carrot, garlic, fresh thyme, bay leaf, onion, butter, sour cream, Herbes de Provence (to replace the fresh parsley) and Dijon mustard. You will note that I don't have mushrooms here. I was asked by my daughter to leave that ingredient out of the recipe. I'm a good mother, so I did as she wished.

The recipe says to pat the meat dry and season with salt and pepper before sauteing in a large pan.

Meanwhile, the carrot was chopped and added to the beef stock, along with the thyme and bay leaf. The stock was heated to allow the flavors to meld.

Once the beef browned, the onion was added and cooked until soft.

Then the sherry was added and this cooked for a few more minutes. I added the minced garlic at this point, since I would not be sauteing mushrooms. Be careful to not burn the garlic, as it will become bitter.

The beef stock was strained and added to the pot.

I might as well toss the carrot and herbs into my stock pot. Waste not, want not is my credo.

Now, back to the Beef Stroganoff. Since I had a burner occupied with the stock, I switched to the slow cooker to finish off this dish. The meat mixture simmered for a couple of hours.

The noodles were cooked according to package directions and then mixed with butter.

Just before we were ready to eat, I added the Dijon mustard and the sour cream. Deciding that the sauce needed more cream, I added a splash of heavy cream to the sauce.

Well, I have to admit that I Semi-Ho'd the rest of the meal with canned French-style green beans and Yoder's Homestyle Mashed Potatoes that I had doctored with butter, salt and heavy cream.

This was a good dish, but it was not quite what I had in mind. The sauce was not nearly as thick as I would have liked. I will keep looking for a better recipe.

Taking Stock

You may remember that the other day I was feeling the need to make stock, thus leading me on this latest stock journey. By the end of Thursday I had a beautiful beef stock. But I wasn't finished yet. Follow along as I continue on my path to stock enlightenment.

By Thursday evening I had a beautiful stock.

I followed Rosie Hawthorne's advice about removing the marrow from the bones and returning the marrow to the stock pot.


The bones, veggies, herbs and spices are set aside for the next day's stock. One of the things that had held me back from trying this method of making both a first stock and a second stock is the limited refrigerator space available to me. I solved this problem by storing the first stock in the stock pot and the solid ingredients for the second stock in the steam basket for the stock pot. This then fit nicely in my refrigerator after some crafty reorganization of the other items.

Friday morning I placed the bones and veggies in another large pot and added enough water to cover. This gently simmered for eight hours while I tended to other matters.

Meanwhile, I pulled the first stock out of the refrigerator and carefully pulled the congealed fat off the top. The first stock is a gelatinous mass that wiggles and tantalizes the senses. I found that the bone marrow had floated to the surface of the stock. This stock was placed back into the refrigerator to await the marriage of the stocks.

By the end of the day, I had my second stock. I did note that the smaller bones had completely disintegrated into the golden liquid. I used open tongs set across the bowl to hold the sieve up out of the stock.

May I present the weaker second stock? I allowed this to cool before pouring in the stock pot with the first stock. Perhaps the gourmands out there would not approve of the stocks 'sleeping' together before their marriage, but I only had room in my fridge for one stock pot. Some allowances must be made in light of the limited cold storage space.

Unfortunately for me, the final steps would have to wait as my Saturday was already booked. First up was a trip to Indy for the Scottish Rite Ladies' Luncheon. As I am the chairperson for this year's luncheons, my presence was required. Then we returned home, where we rested a couple of hours before heading out once again. This time we were off to my husband's bank Holiday Party. Once again my attendance was mandatory, so all thoughts of simmering stocks would have to wait for the morrow.

Finally. I can get back to my stock. I brought the stock to a simmer.

After the stock simmered a bit, I beat an egg white and added that to the stock so the impurities could be removed from the stock. This clarified stock is called consomme.

Next, the consomme must be strained. I cut two squares of cheesecloth and placed them in a large sieve.

Part way through the slow process, the light bulb came on over my head and I got a smaller sieve to catch the larger particles before they clogged up the cheesecloth.

This is quite lovely.

The cooled consomme is ladled into plastic containers. Once properly labeled, they will be placed in the freezer.

Ah, now this is therapy. It's all good.

Another Glorious Day

I decided today that I was suffering from acute stock withdrawal. The cure? Why, making some stock, of course. I picked up some beef soup bones at the grocery store today and when I got home I pulled out the saved beef bones and trimmings from the freezer. Those all went into a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I cleaned and cut two carrots, two celery ribs, half a large onion (including the outer layer) and two cloves of garlic. After 30 minutes I tossed the veggies in with the beef bones and trimmings and baked for another 30 minutes. I also tossed the celery leaves, a couple of bay leaves, some dried thyme, black peppercorns, whole cloves and dried rosemary into a stock pot and added some water.

Now, this is what I call therapy. After transferring the contents to the stock pot, I added water to this pan and heated it on the stove while stirring to lift up the fond from the bottom of the pan. The water and the savory bits were then poured into the stock pot. I then turned the heat for the stock pot to medium and allowed the stock to simmer for several hours.

Let's take a look outside.


The skies cleared up just in time for a glorious sunset.

This picture was taken just after the last photo. The difference is that the flash was turned off for this shot while the flash was used for the last one.

A few minutes later I took another photo of the same view. The flash was used here.

And no flash for this one. The subtle differences in the ambient light makes a huge difference when you take a picture. I would suggest that you play around and take pictures with and without the flash.

And now we come to the money shots.

It has been a long time since we have had such a beautiful sunset.

Hope your day was as nice as mine.

The Third Time's the Charm

I think I'm finally getting the hang of this stock-making thing. While doing some research on the internet, I discovered that older beef stock recipes assume that you are using meaty beef soup bones. However, the soup bones I have been seeing in the stores are scraped clean of any meat. Thus, I may need to rethink my approach to making beef stock. I found a Williams-Sonoma Beef Stock recipe that appealed to me, so I got to work. The obvious first step was to shop for some nice, meaty bones. For this purpose, I decided to purchase some beef short ribs.

Here are the beef short ribs, along with some short rib bones and a rib eye bone that I had saved and frozen, ready to go into a 450 degree oven for 90 minutes.

Meanwhile, I prep the aromatics for the stock. I have one celery rib, along with some celery leaves. Don't throw the leaves out, folks, as they impart a strong celery flavor to the stock. One carrot is roughly chopped along with one onion. I didn't have a leek, but I did have green onions on hand, so INto the pot it goes. I went out to my deck and cut some fresh thyme, flat-leaf parsley and oregano (honestly, your honor, it's not my fault I can't follow a recipe!). I also picked two small Roma tomatoes and a fresh bay leaf from my garden. Three garlic cloves, some black peppercorns and oddly enough, two whole cloves round out the ingredients list.

I deviated from the recipe by adding the onion, tomatoes, carrot and garlic to the roasting beef and bones 15 minutes before the timer was set to go off.

Remove the beef, bones and veggies to the stock pot and drain the fat from the roasting pan. Set the 'dirty' pan aside for later.

Hmm, what are we missing? What could it be?

That's right: water! Add enough water to the pot so that the beef is covered by 4 inches of water. This pretty much filled my stock pot.

Cook over medium heat until the stock begins to boil. This may take up to 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the remaining aromatics. I chose not to roast the green onion so that it would add another flavor component to the stock.

Now, this simmers for 4 to 8 hours.

Ah, I see you remembered the roasting pan with the 'dirty' bits on the bottom. Add 2 cups of water and simmer over medium heat, scraping the bottom to loosen the fond from the pan. This liquid should then be added to the stock.

Skim off the scum that forms on the top of the liquid occasionally.

Eight hours later the solids are removed and the stock pot is placed in a sink of ice water so that the stock can cool quickly.

Having given up all the flavor, this is now going into the trash.

Once the stock has cooled, strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer.

At the end of 12 hours I have two quarts of lovely beef stock. Store overnight in the refrigerator for Act 2: Consomme.

Isn't science fun? Thanks to the prodigious application of cold to the stock, the fat has congealed on the top. Now, skim off the fat.

Reserve one cup of the stock and add one egg white. Looks like I have an egg yolk for my breakfast.

Bring the remaining stock to a simmer. Again, this will take a while. Be patient.

Once the stock has reached a boil, reduce the heat and add the one cup stock with the egg white to the pot. Set the timer for 5 minutes and pull the pot off to the side of the burner. At the end of the time, turn the pan one quarter turn and set the timer for another 5 minutes. Repeat two more times, for a total of 20 minutes.

Take off the heat and skim off the solids. Strain through a cheesecloth-lined strainer.

And here we have 4 cups of beautiful beef consomme. Many thanks to Rosie Hawthorne for pointing me in the right direction here. Of course, I can't promise to not veer off course once in a while.